Happy birthday, Lady Deathstrike Kelly Hu!

Beautiful and badass actress Kelly Hu, born February 13, 1968 in Honolulu, Hawai'i, starred in X2: X-Men United as super-villain Lady Deathstrike.  She's also appeared in the DC Universe as White Tiger in Arrow, the series about the Green Arrow.  

She's performed on a number of my other favorite shows:  Warehouse 13, The Orville, and NCIS: New Orleans. She has provided voices for two of the Scooby-Doo movies! 

In 1985, Hu was the first Asian-American to be crowned Miss Teen USA.  She was crowned Miss Hawai'i in 1993 and finished in the Top 6 at the Miss USA pageant. 

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 episode "Rejoined" airs 1995

Star Trek has never shied away from dealing with issues that might make some people uncomfortable.  I mean, come on!  A black woman in a non-stereotypical role?  The first interracial kiss on the TV screen? 

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 continued this streak of enlightening themes when it aired Rejoined, Episode 5, Season 4 on October 30, 1995.  Lenara Kahn (played by Susanna Thompson [Moira Queen in Arrow]) is the new host of Jadzia Dax's (Terry Farrell) former host Tobias and she arrives at the station with a group of trills.

Trills are forbidden from reassocating with former lovers/partners, but there is still a spark between them.  It might not have been the first lesbian kiss on TV or even the first woman/woman kiss, but it was a first for Star Trek: Deep Space 9. 

Happy birthday, Arrow!

Super-sexy and superbuilt Stephen Amell, born May 8, 1981, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, plays superhero the Arrow/Oliver Queen.  He's played Arrow on The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.